On the Come Up

Bri records the song, but James wants to see Bri “perform it and see how people react to it” (416). They plan for her to perform at the Ring and secure a contract, but Bri is increasingly uneasy about the whole thing, wondering how she can be happy “saying somebody else’s words and fitting somebody else’s image” (416-17). Jay, Bri, and Scrap visit Aunt Pooh in prison, and Pooh inadvertently reveals Bri’s secrets about losing Lawless’s chain and going to the interview with DJ Hype. Jay is furious, and as she listens to Pooh and Scrap plot how they’re going to get even with the Crowns, she decides that Pooh is being selfish and choosing the street life over her family. Jay says that she can’t and won’t bail Pooh out because she’ll be “up to the same ol’ mess” (425) the minute she gets out. Jay says that Pooh has to decide for herself that “enough is enough” (425). Jay confronts Bri, demanding to know what other secrets she has been keeping from her mother. Bri admits that she has been working with Supreme, and she only wanted to help support her family. Jay says that “Pooh doesn’t know who she is, and by not knowing who she is, she doesn’t know her worth” (429).