American Street

Fabiola misses the food and experiences that she used to have back in Haiti. She also misses her mother, and she is growing skinny due to stress and her lack of appetite. Fabiola invites Imani to come to her house. Imani declines because Fabiola’s cousins do not like Imani. Fabiola defends her cousins. Imani tries to teach her how to pronounce certain words in the American style. Fabiola teaches Imani Haitian curse words.

A classmate, Tonesha, approaches Fabiola and accuses her of taking Kasim away from her cousin, Racquel. Fabiola says that Tonesha should tell Racquel to stay away from her boyfriend. Tonesha calls Fabiola a bitch. Fabiola responds by calling Tonesha a bitch. Kasim picks up Fabiola from school. She tells him about Tonesha. Kasim yells out the window that Fabiola—or Fabulous, as Kasim calls her—is his girl. He says that he’s in love with Fabiola. Kasim puts Fabiola’s hand over his heart. Fabiola mentions Dray’s last name. She lies and says she heard Donna say his last name, when she actually heard the detective say it. As she gets out of the car, Fabiola spots Papa Legba, who tips his hat toward her.

A black man dressed in nice clothing arrives at the house late one night along with his two bodyguards. He bangs on the door. Chantal, Pri, and Donna greet him, as Matant Jo is not home. The three sisters call the man Uncle Q. Uncle Q demands that they pay him $20,000, which he says they owe him because they failed to sell enough drugs. They talk about the white girl who died in Grosse Pointe Park after taking drugs. Chantal says they can’t sell any more drugs because Uncle Q gave them a bad batch and now their reputation is damaged. Uncle Q nonetheless demands they pay the money by the end of the month. Q and his bodyguards leave.

Upstairs, Fabiola secretly listens to this conversation with shock, as she realizes that her cousins—not Dray—sold the drugs that killed the white girl. Fabiola wonders what she should do, as she cannot tell Detective Stevens about her cousins. But if she does not provide the detective with information that will lead to an arrest of a drug dealer, then her mother will not be released. She angrily confronts her cousins. Chantal talks to Fabiola about her father, Phil. Phil died while on his first job for Uncle Q, so Uncle Q paid Matant Jo $30,000 to help her family. Matant Jo took that money and became a loan shark. She acquired bodyguards who would beat people up if they failed to pay and began loaning money to drug dealers. Fabiola’s cousins got involved in the drug business, too.

Fabiola imagines her mother hugging her. Feeling upset and looking for answers, she goes outside. Papa Legba is gone. She looks at the house. It looks strange to her. She notes the address: 8800 American Street. Fabiola states that this house was her first home in America, where she lived for the first three months of her life before returning to Haiti. Fabiola knocks on the door, and a white woman answers, to her surprise. She knocks again, and a white man answers, bringing a gun with him. He shoots her. Chantal wakes up Fabiola, who realizes she had a bad dream. She’s still alive. Fabiola lights a candle and says a prayer to Papa Legba.  

This short story covers the history of the house in which Fabiola, her cousins, and Matant Jo now live: 8800 American Street. A Polish immigrant couple, Adrian and Ruth Weiss, moved into the house in 1924. Adrian worked at the nearby car factory owned by businessman Henry Ford, who established a strong industry for car manufacturing in Detroit. However, Adrian was fired for being drunk. He later made money selling bootleg or homemade liquor during the Prohibition Era, when it was illegal to officially buy or sell alcohol. Adrian Weiss was shot some years later at the corner of American Street and Joy Road, putting a curse of death upon the house.

The following owner was struck by a car. The next owner—the first black man to own a house in the neighborhood—was shot by his white neighbors. The black man’s son rented out the house for decades, while drugs and crime swept not only the neighborhood but the entire city of Detroit. White people left the city in large numbers—a phenomenon called “white flight”—as factory jobs were eliminated due to the decline of manufacturing. In 2000, a Haitian immigrant named Jean-Phillip Francois got a job at the local Chrysler car factory and bought the house, which filled with the hopes and dreams of the man’s growing family. However, Jean-Phillip Francois was shot and killed, too.       

Fabiola notices that her cousins have been keeping a close eye on her since she learned about Uncle Q and the drug-dealing. Chantal helps Fabiola fill out financial aid and scholarship applications. Pri tells Fabiola about a girl that she likes romantically. Fabiola ignores Kasim as she struggles to deal with the new information about her cousins and her desire to free her mother. One day, Fabiola, her cousins, and Matant Jo go out for a meal. After paying for the meal, Matant Jo gives the change to Fabiola, but Fabiola refuses, since she now knows how her aunt makes money. Kasim and Dray show up at the restaurant. Donna ignores Dray, which makes him upset. Kasim tries to kiss Fabiola, but she brushes him off. Fabiola breaks up with Kasim and says that she has too much on her mind to be with him.

Matant Jo enlists Fabiola to help her get groceries and prepare a large Thanksgiving meal. Matant Jo experiences severe pain, however, and she takes some pills for the pain before resting. Fabiola prepares the meal by herself, but she doesn’t know how to cook a traditional American Thanksgiving feast. She prepares a Haitian-style meal instead. Pri says that she wishes Fabiola had never gone back to Haiti as a baby. Fabiola misses her mother and begins crying. Her cousins and Matant Jo comfort her.

The cousins are shocked that Fabiola has prepared a Haitian meal instead of a traditional American meal, but they enjoy the food she has prepared. Kasim unexpectedly shows up. He talks about how his family boycotted Thanksgiving because it was a white man’s holiday. Fabiola shares some details about the Haitian day of independence. She and Kasim go upstairs, and she shows him her spiritual items used for voodoo, which include a jug of holy water, white fabric, and a statue of the Virgin Mary. Kasim tells her about his Muslim background and his name, which means “divided amongst many” in Arabic (236).

The chapter ends with another message from Fabiola to her mother. Fabiola wonders if it was Manman’s plan all along to send Fabiola to the US and for Manman to return to Haiti. She talks about how her mother never let Fabiola go off on her own and develop her own life—to be free. She talks about Matant Jo and her cousins’ involvement with the drug trade. Fabiola says that the lwas will bring Manman home.  

Fabiola’s new hair weave helps her to fit in among the African American students at her school. She watches a school basketball game with her friends Imani and Daesia. Donna and Pri arrive, and Donna is cold toward Imani because of Dray’s interest in Imani. Pri introduces Fabiola to her friend—and possible girlfriend—Taj. Dray and Kasim arrive at the game. Dray tries to get Donna’s attention, but she ignores him. Dray says he loves her Donna and presents her with a diamond necklace. Someone in the crowd insults Dray, and he tries to start a fight with them. Donna is disgusted, but Dray convinces her to leave with him. Kasim kisses Fabiola and says that their love is different than Donna and Dray’s love.

Back at the house, Fabiola and the others are sleeping when Fabiola hears Dray yelling about Bad Leg being a snitch who talks to the cops. Dray begins beating up Bad Leg. Fabiola brings Donna inside the house. Fabiola sees that Dray hit Donna again. Donna says that she fought back. Fabiola compares Donna to the warrior spirit Ezili-Danto. Fabiola believes she must remove Dray from Donna’s life.