American Street- Ibi Zoboi
So far in the story we have met some new characters, one of them is, blue cap boy; named Kasim and his best friend/brother Dray, Donna’s boyfriend. We meet them at a party that Donna, Pri, and Fabiola go to. Right away Kasim starts to flirt with Fabiola and she flirts back in a friendly manner like calling him broke, and Kasim calling her fabulous. After the party Fabiola takes a ride back in Dray’s car since Donna got sick from drinking too much and she decides to stay with her. At home Fabiola ask questions about her mom to her Aunt Jo. She learns that bring her mom to Detroit will be a lot harder than she’ll like, so she plans on going to New Jersey to see her mom; that plan gets shut down quickly by her cousins. She talks to bad leg-the crazy guy in the street, and learns that he’s actually Papa Legba, the keeper of the crossroads, the one who will open the gates for people who want to go to the other side; the better life. The person that can let her mother come to a better life. The next day after school she meets an undercover police officer who is trying to catch the people who are selling drugs to underage kids. She thinks that one of those drug dealers is Dray. She asks Fabiola to give them a tip to catch Dray, and that if she does then they’ll help bring Fabiola’s mother to Detroit.
The most interesting quote this week was “A cold chill travels up my spine. Shit you do for fam. The way he says it, it's like he would do anything for his family, like for love and respect. I say it out loud. "Shit you do for fam." I turn to him. “Shit you do for fam,” he repeats.” (104) When I read this line it really hit me differently. We all do crazy things for our family whether it was the right thing to do or not. A mother would go into a burning building just to save her child, a father would fight an armed person if it means that their kid would be okay. Heck even if you aren’t related by blood people would still do crazy things for their family, because those friends are their family. When Ibi Zoboi wrote this I think she was giving us a foreshadowing of what’s to come in the story, that when things get bad we would do some crazy shit for fam.
I’m getting really interested in the story now. I want to see what Fabiola will do with the offer the cop gave her, and what she’ll convince Papa Legba to let her mother pass the crossroads. I’m also really excited on how Fabiola and Kasim’s relationship will develop; I’m a sucker for a good romance story. I’m worried about what will happen in future chapters though. I have a feeling that both Kasim and Fabiola will have to choose between family and their relationship. Kasim would do anything for Dray, I mean he’s like a brother to him and Fabiola will do anything for her mother. It all goes back to what the quote says on page 104 “Shit you do for fam.” I’m pretty sure they're both going to do some crazy stuff for their family, and that’s what I’m worried about.
