Southland

In 1965, the Watts riots break out like a heat storm. The narrator mentions how trouble could be felt in the air until it finally boiled over into physical destruction: “There was watchful suspense in the air. And the Southerners knew the only thing that could break the grip of heat was an old-fashioned, earth-shaking storm” (302). The rioters felt like enacting destruction was a way of holding power in their lives. The riots hit Crenshaw on that Saturday, and Curtis and his friends watch groups of people looting and rioting while standing in front of Frank’s store. It’s Curtis, Akira Matsumoto (a rebellious Japanese kid), David and his younger brother Tony, and Tony’s best friend, Gerald. Derek was there earlier but left, while Hirano returned after briefly going outside to preach.

Out of nowhere, Lawson pulls up and begins harassing them. He asks the boys if they are planning to riot, or if they are going to destroy Frank’s store. They try to explain that they are protecting the store, but numerous culminated events anger Lawson: the riots, his partner laughing at him, and Akira talking back to him. He tells the boys to go inside the store, and when they lie by saying they don’t have a key, he places his gun to Curtis’s head until they produce one and go inside.