Angel Of Greenwood

On the walk home, Muggy talks about girls while Isaiah thinks about Angel. He feels bad about bullying her with Muggy for years. Muggy thinks Isaiah’s summer job is uncool. Nobody knows Isaiah’s grades are exceptional. They arrive at Isaiah’s house, and he goes inside.

Isaiah asks his mom about Angel, and she’s delighted; she thinks Angel is wonderful. Isaiah feels about his treatment of Angel and for disappointing his mom and being cruel in the past. Later, in his bedroom, Isaiah reads W. E. B. Du Bois and writes in his notebook about how he doesn’t really like Dorothy Mae romantically. Dorothy Mae knocks on his window, wanting to come in and kiss him. He lets her in even though he doesn’t actually want to. He goes into the bathroom for a while, then comes back out when his mom calls him. He goes back to his bedroom to see Dorothy Mae.

Angel’s dad wants to hold baby Michael. Angel’s dad thinks he has a special affinity with baby Michael, who just came into the world, because he’s about to leave the world. Angel doesn’t like this but suspects it might be true. Someone knocks on Angel’s door and it’s Muggy, holding a journal that he wants to show to Angel.

Isaiah wants to talk to Dorothy Mae instead of kissing. She prefers Booker T. Washington to W. E. B. Du Bois. He asks what she dreams of, and she says she wants to fly. Isaiah is impressed by this level of depth, which he didn’t know existed in Dorothy Mae. Isaiah realizes his journal is missing. Dorothy Mae leaves.

Muggy reads Angel the love poem that Isaiah wrote about her. Dorothy Mae appears and asks Muggy to give her the journal. He points out that she passed it to him through Isaiah’s window but gives it to her since he’s already read the poem to Angel. Angel’s dad hears talking outside and comes to investigate, and Dorothy Mae sees him. She apologizes to Angel, realizing her dad is sick (which she’s been keeping secret from townspeople).

Isaiah asks his mom if she’s seen his journal; she says he had it when he got home, but she doesn’t know where it is now. Isaiah panics because he doesn’t want anyone else to read his love poem for Angel or his poem about how he hates Muggy. Also, he had college essays written in there, which were perfect and would be impossible to replicate verbatim. Isaiah retraces his steps since arriving home and realizes Dorothy Mae must have taken the journal out of his bedroom.

Tuesday, May 24, 1921; 7 Days Before

Isaiah doesn’t understand why Dorothy Mae would want to steal his notebook. He assumes Muggy must be working with her. Isaiah doesn’t want Muggy to read his poem about how he hates him. He wrote the poem after Muggy put ketchup on a girl’s pad and attached it to her skirt, then gave her the nickname “Bloody Mary,” which stuck. Isaiah was so disgusted with Muggy that he wrote the hateful poem.

Normally, Muggy and Isaiah walk to school together, but Muggy doesn’t show up at their meeting spot, so Isaiah walks alone. Angel appears and announces she’s accepting the job with Miss Ferris. She’s glad Isaiah likes books and says his poetry is beautiful. He asks if she likes politics. She says she does, and she loves Booker T. Washington. Isaiah says W. E. B. Du Bois is better. Angel respectfully disagrees but says she wants Isaiah to be real with her. Isaiah decides he’s definitely in love. Muggy jumps out of a tree and calls Isaiah a fool for liking Angel and for leaving his journal where Dorothy Mae could take it. He tosses the journal, and Isaiah catches it. The page with the hate poem about Muggy is dog-eared, and Muggy says it was his “favorite.” Dorothy Mae is nearby with her hands covering her face as if she’s ashamed of taking the journal.

Angel tells Miss Ferris she accepts the job. She’s excited to make money to help her family and glad Isaiah doesn’t plan on bullying her. Miss Ferris shows them the bike she plans on having them use to make deliveries. It needs work, but it has a carrying basket and a sidecar so one of them can pedal and the other can ride along. Angel walks home but stops at Deacon Yancey’s house. She sees Isaiah walking by and says hello, but he ignores her. She wonders what changed but suspects Muggy is behind it. Angel always tries to help people and be kind; she doesn’t understand Muggy’s cruelty.

Angel asks Deacon Yancey why he dislikes Isaiah so much. He hasn’t told anyone besides his deceased wife, but it has to do with his son, Pete, and Isaiah’s father. Isaiah’s father told a group of white men that Pete stole something from their store. Deacon Yancey thinks this was untrue. The white men beat Pete up, and he was different afterward. He moved away to Atlanta. Now, Deacon Yancey dislikes Isaiah because of his deceased father’s actions.