American Street: Chapter 14 Summary & Analysis

Donna attempts to put a wig on Fabiola in preparation for her date with Kasim. Fabiola pulls away and wonders whether Manman would approve of Kasim or her outfit. Just then, her phone buzzes: it’s Detective Stevens, promising to call tomorrow at 3:00. Fabiola tries to forget about the detective. As Donna makes another attempt with the wig, Chantal pulls up a YouTube hair tutorial and does Fabiola’s hair. When they’re done, Fabiola feels like Ezili, the lwa of beauty. Donna insists that Fabiola looks like Rosa Parks and storms out when Fabiola refuses makeup too. Pri cackles. Fabiola adds lip gloss and pulls on one of Manman’s dresses, but she changes into jeans and a sweatshirt when Pri says that she looks like a church lady.

Dressed like this, Fabiola feels less Haitian and less like an immigrant. Chantal asks where they’re going. Fabiola doesn’t know, so Chantal tells her to make Kasim bring her back if he’s going to take her to his house. Pri tells Fabiola to practice the phrase, “Take me the fuck home!” Fabiola knows that Pri just wants to make fun of her accent, but she repeats the phrase anyway. Chantal and Pri howl with laughter.

When the doorbell rings, Fabiola sees Dray’s car outside—Dray let Kasim borrow it. Fabiola doesn’t want to get in and looks for Bad Leg, but the old man is nowhere to be found. She calls to Donna and asks if she can sit in the passenger seat before sliding in. Then, Kasim gets in and explains that he had the car detailed to make it smell and feel different. He turns on jazzy hip-hop and says that they’re listening to J Dilla, a Detroit legend. He turns on Big Sean next, and Fabiola recognizes the song. As Kasim turns the corner, Fabiola sees Papa Legba staring right into the car. The bass suddenly sounds like the signal for danger. But when Kasim reaches for Fabiola’s hand, she feels calm and settled.

Downtown, they get in line at the Detroit Opera House—they’re going to see Alvin Ailey dance. Fabiola is speechless. She’s never seen dancers like the people on the posters, and she’s never seen an audience made up of so many Black people. As Kasim puts an arm around Fabiola, she realizes that she’s underdressed. Kasim tells her she looks fine and pulls her close, giving Fabiola the opportunity to sniff his sweet cologne. A minute later, when he hands over the tickets, Fabiola sees that they each cost over $100. The performance is like nothing Fabiola has ever seen. She wants to wrap up her memories of the performance and give them to Manman. 

Afterwards, Fabiola asks how much the tickets cost. She tells Kasim that he should be spending money on his car and his mother, not her. He sighs and says that he got the tickets from his Uncle Q, who is Dray’s uncle. In a lot of ways, though, Uncle Q is everyone’s uncle—he owns the Q club and practically owns the entire block it’s on. Fabiola says that she had an uncle too, and she’s shocked when Kasim says he knows all about “Haitian Phil.” He says that Pri talks about Phillip all the time and makes sure that everyone knows that her father “went down for Q.” Seeing Fabiola’s surprise, Kasim advises her to stay out of this matter. Meanwhile, Fabiola feels like Papa Legba is drawing her in as he works to get Manman to this side. Kasim kisses Fabiola, and the city looks uncharacteristically beautiful.