Nightcrawling

Content Warning: These Chapter Summaries & Analyses include references to sexual abuse, sex trafficking, rape, violence, racism, addiction, police brutality, child abuse and neglect, and suicide.

Kiara Johnson, a Black seventeen-year-old living in Oakland, California, with her older brother, Marcus, receives a notice that their rent is increasing. She laughs it off, as she and Marcus cannot pay the current rent. Kiara retrieves her nine-year-old neighbor, Trevor, and walks him to the school-bus stop. She then goes to a restaurant, where the owner’s daughter, Alé, prepares food for her. Kiara explains to Alé that she can’t find a job aside from the work she has at a liquor store. Kiara is frustrated that Marcus is not searching for a job. Alé reminds Kiara that it is “funeral day,” and the two leave the restaurant.

Kiara and Alé take the bus to Joy Funeral Home. Kiara recalls her father’s death from prostate cancer, the symptoms of which began while he was incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison. At the funeral home, Kiara steals clothing while Alé makes up a plate of food from the buffet.