King of Ashes

Neveah meets with Marion, a woman who worked with her mother. Marion says that her parents loved each other, but her “daddy loved that crematory more” (225). The older woman doesn’t believe that Keith killed her mother but doesn’t suggest another culprit either. Chauncey asks Neveah to come see him, but she tells him she’s busy and goes to Candy’s. Dante is at the bar, and she asks him what he remembers about the day of their mother’s disappearance. He recounts his activities but omits that he saw Bonita with Oscar. The siblings get into an argument when Dante tries to defend Keith.

Neveah and Dante exit Candy’s as two Latino men enter. The men are members of the Ghost Town Crew, and they attack the bar’s patrons with machetes. Dante recognizes a few of his friends among the screaming crowd fleeing the establishment, but Neveah keeps him with her until the police arrive. Chauncey wants to take Dante to the police station and interrogate him about Getty and the BBB, but Neveah threatens to reveal their affair to his wife if he tries to scapegoat either of her brothers for the city’s corruption and the police’s incompetence. Chauncey vows vengeance, but Neveah is glad that she has finally ended her relationship with him.