Taking Sides

It is Friday, which means no basketball practice, but when Lincoln’s mom tells him they are going out for dinner that night with Roy, Lincoln lies, saying that practice might go late. The mention of Roy makes Lincoln think of his father, and Lincoln asks his mother about him. Lincoln learns that his father is still a parole officer and that Lincoln looks like him—“strong,” his mother says. Lincoln opens the geography textbook to avoid further discussion of his father; he lands on the page with the camel driver.

Lincoln goes to school with James; as they talk, he is surprised to learn the latter’s father is a surveyor rather than a doctor or lawyer. After algebra, Lincoln’s teacher asks him about his declining grades, and Lincoln can only say that he finds this school “different.” Instead of eating lunch, Lincoln goes looking for Monica, unsure what he’ll say when he finds her. She is journaling in the library. She tells him she told her father she wanted to quit aikido, but he said she was spoiled, referencing the field labor he performed as a boy. Lincoln says, “Yeah, I know the rap. My mom did her share of field work in the valley” (41).