A Good Neighborhood

The police question Juniper, trying to confirm Brad’s story of rape. During questioning, the police refer to Xavier as “the man,” and Juniper corrects them repeatedly. The questions are manipulative, and Juniper tries to answer as clearly as she can. When they ask about the alcohol and whether she consented, she tells the police, “It wasn’t rape” (239). She says they are dating and that she wants to go home, but the officer says that she needs to have a medical examination.

Juniper is taken to the hospital and is coerced into submitting to a rape kit examination. She feels that the situation is her fault and wishes she would have told her mother about Xavier. The nurse comes in and comforts Juniper, and the nurse says that Xavier had raped Juniper and that Juniper just doesn’t realize it. She keeps telling Juniper that she has been taken advantage of, and Juniper starts to question her perception of the event, but she ultimately concludes that she consented.

Valerie is reading while Xavier is upstairs and upset, though Valerie does not know why. Police arrive, knocking on the door and asking for Xavier. They tell her to send him out, and she goes to get Xavier. She asks him why the police are looking for him, and he says it is something involving Brad. Valerie advises Xavier to remain calm and compliant before he is handcuffed and taken away.

When Juniper gets home, she does not talk to anyone and goes straight to her room. Brad comes home and goes into his den without telling anyone else what is going on. Lottie and Julia wonder why Juniper is upset and why she is not at work. Julia assumes Juniper was caught in a lie, but Lottie argues that Juniper is not a liar and that it must have something to do with a boy. Brad emerges and tells Julia and Lottie that Juniper is fine but that she was raped by Xavier and that Xavier attacked him. Brad spins a detailed story of the event, and Julia and Lottie believe him. When Julia wants to go to Juniper, Brad stops her and warns her that Juniper has not accepted that she was raped. He says that he is sending the girls to his mother’s house for a few weeks and that he has already talked to the district attorney, Tony.

Juniper sends Lily to leave a note on Xavier’s car since she will not be able to see or call him. She leaves early the next day, before the reporters arrive at Valerie’s house. Valerie refuses to talk to the reporters, and she leaves. The news reports the story using the headline, “Breaking news this morning: A local Black man is accused of the assault and rape of an underage white girl” (254).