The Stars Beneath Our Feet

Ever since seeing the gun, Lolly has been in an angry mood. Thinking about what they might do to Harp and Gully is making him feel the heavy rock in his chest.

Sunny comes over with homemade pastelles. They aren’t very good, but Lolly eats one out of politeness. He asks about her arm, and Sunny tells him it happened when she and April E. tried to catch the wild coyote before the police could shoot him. Sunny and April E. named the coyote Nicky and tried to lure him out of hiding with live chickens. One day, when they were chasing a chicken, Sunny fell backwards and twisted her arm. Still, it was worth it: “Sometimes, Wallace […] you just do what you know is right, even if it seems dumb at the time” (243). She kisses him above his eye and leaves.

Lolly rides his bike to the park and leaves Sunny’s pastelles out for Nicky. The coyote is nowhere to be found, which makes Lolly angry. Everything disappears—Nicky, Jermaine, and Harmonee. He feels his chest getting heavier again.

All Lolly can think about is the gun. He daydreams about confronting Harp and Gully. In the fantasy, Vega takes out a violin made out of Lego bricks and plays a beautiful song that is so sad it makes Harp and Gully sob. Then, he points his violin at them, and a black bullet shoots out and goes through both Harp, then Gully’s forehead. When their bodies drop, they break into little Lego pieces.

Yvonne calls to say that she’s been arrested. Lolly and his mom are shocked to hear that Yvonne has been stealing the Lego bags she has been bringing home for Lolly from her job at Tuttle’s.

Yvonne is at the same police station Lolly’s mom picked Jermaine up when he was arrested a few years ago. Lolly promises that she will never have to bail him out of here. She looks at him sadly and Lolly can tell she’s trying to decide if she believes him. Lolly and his mom fall asleep in plastic chairs waiting for Yvonne. They wake up to the sound of two cops yelling at a young handcuffed Black man. When they pull out their baton, Lolly’s mom yells that there is no reason to hit him.

The cop at the desk then tells them that Yvonne was sent to Central Booking to see a judge. They won’t see her until tomorrow if they’re lucky.

The next morning Lolly and his mom meet Harold Tuttle with lively, friendly Legal Aid lawyer Aston Stewart, wearing “kind of in between what you would expect a man to wear and what you might expect a woman to wear” (256). Lolly likes what Aston is wearing. It makes him look unique. Mr. Tuttle and his team look at Aston “like they were analyzing somebody on the east side of 125th Street, trying to decide whose gang he belonged to” (260).

Mr. Tuttle thinks that Lolly and his mom coerced Yvonne into stealing from him to make their Internet videos of Lolly’s Lego city. Lolly is angry at the accusation they’d steal. He cites the line from Phillis Wheatley’ “On Imagination”: “Imagination, who can sing your force? Who can describe the swiftness of your course?” (263). He knows what Yvonne did was wrong, but he is really lucky she did it—Lego building taught him to use his head and be creative. It saved him.

Lolly has written a letter to Mr. Tuttle promising to work at Tuttle’s Toy Emporium after school as a janitor until he pays for what Yvonne stole. Mr. Tuttle is surprised and impressed. He decides not press charges against Yvonne. Lolly’s mom thanks him profusely and tells him they will return the Lego blocks, but he tells her it’s unnecessary. He also tells Lolly that even though he appreciates the offer to work for him, it isn’t necessary, and he should focus on his schoolwork instead. Mr. Tuttle understands why Yvonne did what she did, but he won’t rehire her. He also has to rescind his offer for the kids to build the window decoration.

Lolly and Vega roam the streets of Harlem at night. Lolly’s eyes dart around, waiting for Harp and Gully or the cops to show up. They end up at the Harlem River. Lolly asks Vega if he’s ready, and Vega nods before placing the Glock in Lolly’s hand. Lolly thinks about what they would have done if Harp and Gully were there right now. He hands the Glock back to Vega, who hurls it into the river, screaming “like he was throwing all of his fear and anger along with it” (268). Lolly hopes that whatever rock Vega was carrying around in his chest is finally gone.

After seeing his mom’s face when she found out Yvonne got arrested, Lolly knew his rock was gone. He won’t let it come back. He helped Vega make a choice between Frito, the gun, and the violin by reminding Vega about Jermaine and Steve. They agree to ask Steve how he survived without taking the wrong path.

Vega thanks Lolly for “manning up” (270). He sobs while Lolly puts his hand on his shoulder, letting him get it all out until his breathing returns to normal.

Lolly is shocked to hear from Mr. Ali that Rose is gone from after-school. Rose was there as a last resort after being kicked out of other programs for getting into fights. Rose’s grandmother avoided having Rose diagnosed for years, but recently child services found that she is on the autism spectrum. She has been relocated to a new school in Mount Vernon, a town north of Harlem. Lolly tells Mr. Ali that Rose is different; she should go to college one day and become an engineer.

Mr. Ali tells Lolly that Rose’s grandmother’s success at keeping her out of the system for as long as she did actually helped Rose’s social skills. In after-school, Rose learned how to communicate with people and understand body language better. Lolly is upset, but Mr. Ali assures Lolly it’s for the best.

Lolly travels to Mount Vernon by subway to visit Rose at her new school on a nice block with a lot of trees. She isn’t there, even after he waits an hour. His dad picks him up and tries to cheer him up about missing his friend. Lolly thinks about what Mr. Ali said about starting fresh with his dad. He thinks maybe it could happen.

On the next block, they see a group of young people are crossing the street. Rose is leading the line. Lolly excitedly hugs her and gives her a gift—a book of poems by the Black woman poet Safia Elhillo.

Lolly’s mom and Yvonne have a fight. In Lolly’s room, there’s an empty space where Jermaine’s bed used to be—Lolly finally told his mom to move it to storage. Yvonne apologizes to Lolly for stealing the Lego pieces and almost getting him in trouble. She did it because when she saw Lolly’s depression lift, bringing him more Lego filled her with joy. Lolly understands and thanks her, not for stealing, but for helping him think hard before making a bad decision that would have changed him for good.

After Yvonne leaves his room, Lolly takes out the tablet his dad bought him and draws blueprints for a new city. He is just as immersed as when he pulled apart his Lego kits to build the House of Moneekrom. He feels hopeful and full of ideas.

In May, Lolly’s mom treats him, Vega, and Yvonne to dinner at Applebee’s. Lolly suddenly tells them that he wants to be called by his real name from now on.

Lolly wonders what Rose is building now. He reflects on how much he has learned this year: He discovered his “superpower […] building thingamajigs fresh out my head” (287). He misses Jermaine, but he thinks he understands now why Jermaine tried to get him to join his crew. Who you hang out with can change you. Lolly is going to remember all the good things about Jermaine, and whenever he needs to talk to him, he will go to the overlook where he and Vega tossed the gun in the river. He smiles. He’s learned that your choices make you who you are.