The Hate U Give: Chapter 20 Summary & Analysis

It has been two weeks since Starr talked to the grand jury and eight weeks since Khalil’s death. Seven drives Starr to school, and appears on guard even at Williamson; he has grown more protective of Starr following her dry-snitching on King, whom Carlos has said the police are watching closely.

Starr sees Maya and Hailey talking outside Hailey’s locker. Hailey has a smug expression on her face and calls Starr a “liar” when she approaches. Hailey then hands Starr two photographs of Khalil. The first, said to be the image the news has shared, is what Maverick calls Khalil’s “thugshot,” in which he holds a bunch of money to the camera. The second is from Starr’s twelfth birthday party, and shows her, Khalil, and Hailey eating cake. Starr recognizes what the photos don’t show: a poor kid happy to finally have some money in his hands, and eagerly eating cake because there was no food at his home.

Hailey calls Starr a liar for pretending not to know Khalil, and demands an apology for being called racist. Maya defends Starr by pointing out that Hailey has, in fact, been saying racist things—including her Thanksgiving cat comment. Hailey dismisses her concern, saying that was so long ago that she shouldn’t be upset. She then says that Khalil probably would have been killed soon enough anyway, and that the cops did the world a favor by ridding them of a drug dealer and gangbanger. Starr punches Hailey in the face, and a fight ensues. Other students laugh and pull out their phones to record it. When Hailey’s brother Remy gets involved, Seven jumps in. Starr notes that they both know how to fight, Maverick having often taken them to the boxing gym after school.

A school security guard breaks up the fight, and the four get suspended. They are not expelled, because the headmaster takes pity on Starr “given the circumstances.” Lisa scolds Seven and Starr, saying they behaved in the way the world expected them to.  Starr finally lets her anger about Khalil’s death out, shouting that he didn’t deserve to die and she’s tired of listening to people acting like it was okay that he was murdered. Lisa rubs her back and lets Starr cry.

Later the Carters’ house is filled with both King Lords and Garden Disciples. Maverick says that regardless of the indictment verdict, they can’t let riots get out of hand and have people burn the neighborhood down; though people are angry, destroying their home won’t fix things. Tim, Mr. Reuben’s nephew, says they all need to get more organized and avoid targeting black-owned businesses. Maverick agrees, and urges the gangs to put territory wars aside together for the sake of Garden Heights; infighting has only given the cops more power to do whatever they want. Much to Starr’s surprise, the different gang members slap palms.