68 pages 2 hours read

Walter Dean Myers

Scorpions

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1988

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Chapters 16-20Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 16 Summary

Jamal and Tito go to Jamal’s apartment, where no one is home. He sees a letter in the mail from Mr. Davidson asking Mama to call immediately. Jamal calls the school and explains that she cannot contact them because she’s tending to his brother who was stabbed. The secretary tells him to come into school tomorrow himself and report to Mr. Davidson. Next, he tries to call Indian at the barbecue joint. Angel comes to the phone, and Jamal tells him that Randy has told Mama that Indian should head up the Scorpions. The restaurant’s proprietor makes him hang up, but when he calls back a bit later, Angel says that Indian wants Jamal to tell the Scorpions about this in person, tomorrow night, near the swings in Marcus Garvey Park. Jamal is reluctant, but Angel says that if he doesn’t come, it’ll prove that he’s trying to “pull something.”

Sassy gets home. She asks if they had a half day of school, and Jamal lies that they did. She looks to Tito for the truth, who lies with his fingers crossed. Jamal walks Tito home. Tito wonders why Indian wants to meet Jamal in the park and asks what Jamal will do if Indian attacks him.