King and the Dragonflies

Mikey Sanders calls out King’s name as he is walking to school. He tells King that he has seen him with his brother Sandy and asks if the two are friends. King confirms that he and Sandy are friends. Mikey then says that King must know where Sandy is. King denies knowing anything, but Mikey knows he is lying. King adds that he wouldn’t tell Mikey if he did know.

Jasmine gives King her movie script for him to read. King asks her if the script is about the boy she likes. She doesn’t answer. King then asks her if the boy she likes is him. Jasmine answers, “Yes. […] You’re the boy that I like” (148). King tells Jasmine that he likes her, too. Jasmine then asks King if that means they are girlfriend and boyfriend. King answers yes because he knows that is what she wants to hear. Jasmine kisses him on the cheek.

King thinks about how his having a girlfriend would make Khalid happy. He then remembers how he responded when Sandy told him he was gay in the tent. He recalls telling Sandy, “Sometimes, I wonder if I might be gay, too” (151). He thinks Khalid must have heard his comment although Khalid never mentioned it. He recalls Khalid telling him, “Black people aren’t allowed to be gay […] We’ve already got the whole world hating us because of our skin. We can’t have them hating us because of something like that also” (151).

Sandy says he’s happy living in the shack, catching fish and picking berries. After King tells Sandy that Jasmine is now his girlfriend, Sandy is silent for a while before saying, “Congratulations.”

King asks Sandy if he likes to do whatever he wants, and Sandy responds that he does. He then says King could do whatever he wants too if he chose to do so. However, King thinks, “I can’t tell everyone that I like boys, not girls” (156).

Sandy objects to King’s being jealous of him. Sandy points out that he can’t get new clothes when he wants them, his mother abandoned the family when he was a baby, his father hits him, and he and his brother often have to survive by fishing because his father won’t give them grocery money when he gets mad.

King says he thinks he likes Jasmine as a friend, but not as a girlfriend. Sandy responds that it’s wrong for King to lie to Jasmine. King tells Sandy that his brother is a dragonfly and that he comes to him in his sleep sometimes. Sandy listens and then says he’s glad Khalid is a dragonfly: “No one’s ever really gone,” Sandy says. “That’s what I think” (166).

King brings Sandy food. Their friendship revives, as they spend hours in the shack talking about anime and comic books.

King wonders if Khalid is mad at him for moving on with his life and not feeling sad all the time. He realizes that his “new normal is Sandy” (169). His parents are also moving on. They tell him they have planned a trip to Mardi Gras.

King goes to see Sandy and discovers he is gone. When he returns home, his mother tells him that Sandy was found and sent back to his father. This development upsets King. He tells his parents, “Sandy’s dad hits him!” (180). When King’s mother says that Sandy is probably lying about the abuse, King tells her that he has seen Sandy’s bruises and insists that he is telling the truth.

Thinking about Sandy and Khalid, King feels flooded with sadness and starts to cry. His father tells him, “[…] it’s all right to cry. […] I know what I’ve said. Boys don’t cry. Men don’t cry. […] Forget all that. Cry when you need to, all right?” (181).