There There

On his way to the powwow, wearing his regalia, Tony encounters an older white woman on the train who asks him, “So you’re […] a Native American?” He invites her to the Coliseum for the powwow. He thinks about how people just want “a little story they can bring back home with them […] about how they saw a real Native American boy on a train” (235).

Meanwhile, Blue drives to pick up Edwin, her intern at the Indian Center, on the way to the powwow. She calls Edwin, and he does not answer. After several times knocking at the door, he finally opens it, holding two mugs of coffee.

Dene has set up “a makeshift storytelling booth” and thinks about the camera he is using, which Uncle Lucas gave him. Dene decides that “he’ll ask everyone who comes into his booth why they’ve come to the powwow” and “[w]hat does being Indian mean to them?” (240).

Opal sits by herself in the second deck of the plaza infield (241), trying to avoid being seen by her grandsons. Opal spies Daniel’s drone “fly over the ridge of the rim of the coliseum” (242). She does not know what it is but can tell it is not natural.

In Blue’s car, Edwin feels tense and does not know what to say. He and Blue usually spend time together at work, not outside of it. He is also nervous about potentially meeting his dad Harvey for the first time at the powwow. Edwin tells Blue of a story he’s writing about an Indigenous man named Phil who invites a white person to sleep in his home for the night. However, the white person invites more and more white people over until Phil is forced to live under the stairs.

As Blue and Edwin arrive at the coliseum, they debate whether to take the safe out of the car. It holds thousands of dollars in Visa gift cards. They decide to bring it in, and Blue says, “I’ve never held this much money” (247).

Calvin is eating breakfast at Denny’s with Charles, Carlos, and Octavio. He worries about “getting away with [the robbery]” (248) and thinks the plan is bad. The four argue about the details of how to carry out the robbery. Octavio tells Charles and Carlos to “shut the fuck up” (250) when they complain that the money is in gift cards instead of cash.

Daniel wanted to come with them, but Octavio argued with him, saying he must stay at home. Octavio will allow Daniel to watch the robbery via his drone camera, but he warns Daniel not to let the drone fall into the hands of the authorities, as it could be traced back to them.

Jacquie and Harvey arrive at a motel in Oakland. Harvey offers to share a room. Jacquie declines and feels that, because she is the one who carried their child, she “could care less” if he is uncomfortable or disappointed (253). Nevertheless, Jacquie agrees to get breakfast with Harvey in the morning and attends the powwow with him. Harvey is the powwow’s announcer and has the list of all the dancers who will perform. Jacquie looks over the list, noting Orvil’s name.

Octavio gets the bullets from the bushes and brings them to the bathroom, where he and the other men load the bullets into the white plastic guns. As Octavio loads his gun, he “feels a dread move all the way from his toes to the top of his head” (256). He drops one bullet and hears it roll across the floor as someone’s shoes squeak. Octavio assumes it “must be Tony here to get his bullets” (256).

Edwin and Blue discuss whether Edwin should talk to his father, Harvey, for the first time. Edwin decides to get a taco and walk past his dad again. Blue accompanies Edwin on the walk, and Edwin approaches Harvey. Harvey hugs his son and then introduces Edwin to Jacquie. Edwin introduces both people to Blue, who is standing nearby. When Blue hears that Jacquie’s last name is Red Feather, her face blanches. As Edwin and Blue walk away, Blue explains, “I think that woman was my mom” (260).

Thomas finishes drumming the opening song and then wanders around the powwow, thinking about apologizing to someone from the Indian Center. He hears yelling. Loother and Lony nearby also hear people screaming (264). 

After singing and drumming, Thomas feels at peace with himself. He considers apologizing to Blue about the day he crushed the bat. Suddenly, he hears yelling coming from an unknown direction.

As Loother and Lony approach the lemonade stand, they hear screaming.

Meanwhile, Daniel is flying the drone over the Coliseum and thinking about the dreams he’s been having this week: “dreams of people running in the streets and gunfire all around” (265). As Daniel operates the drone, his mom comes downstairs and asks him to come upstairs to eat with her. He says, “I’ll be up pretty soon,” and she does not respond (266).

Blue sits in the tent near the safe when she becomes concerned about the “few thuggish-looking guys standing nearby” (267). As they get closer, Blue wonders, “Who would rob a powwow? Who would even know to rob a powwow?” (267).

Dene is nearby in his booth when “he hears the first shots,” and, suddenly, “the black curtain walls of the booth collapse around him” (269). The shots continue. Finally, Dene crawls out far enough to see “Calvin Johnson, from the powwow committee […] firing a white gun at a guy on the ground, and two other guys […] shooting on his left and right” (269-70).

As Orvil walks back out onto the field, he hears the shots. He starts running and “hears a boom that fills his body with a sound so low it pulls him to the ground” (271). Orvil falls, bleeding. He wants “to take back everything he’s ever done […] to believe he knows how to dance a prayer” (271).

The shooting scene is described most clearly through Calvin’s perspective as he watches Tony, Octavio, Charles, and Carlos. Octavio sends a text to signal the go-ahead, and Octavio is soon pointing his gun at Edwin, Blue, and the safe (273). As Octavio gets the bag of gift cards, Carlos trains the gun on Octavio, and soon everyone is yelling. Octavio “throws the bag of gift cards at Charles” and then fires at Charles (273). Everyone else begins firing. Carlos shoots Octavio in the back, and Tony shoots Carlos. Daniel’s drone crashes. Calvin gets hit in the hip and stomach.

Thomas hears the bullets and ducks down. As he realizes that some bullets have narrowly missed him, one strikes his throat. Thomas thinks about sleeping and feels heavy. Someone holds him in his lap. Thomas feels that “he’s here, and he’s dying, and it’s okay” (275).

Bill is also hit as he talks on the phone to Karen. When Bill is shot in the ear, his head “throbs [like] an expanding balloon” (277). Karen is still on the phone; Bill thinks, “Please not this” and feels himself “going” (277).

Opal tries to call Orvil. When she cannot reach him, she calls Loother, but the call does not stay connected. Opal gets to the front entrance and sees Loother and Lony. They have also been trying to reach Orvil.

Jacquie is near Harvey, who is trying to keep her safe. Jacquie looks for “the colors of Orvil’s regalia on the ground” (280). When she finds him, Jacquie begins moving toward her grandson despite the fact that this means she’s getting closer to the gunfire. She reaches him and discovers he still has a pulse. Jacquie carries Orvil’s body toward the exit, calling out for help. Loother and Lony find her, and Opal pulls up with her Ford Bronco. Harvey finds them and gets in the car as well.

Meanwhile, Blue helps Edwin into her car. He has been shot in the stomach. She gives him some of the powwow T-shirts to stem the bleeding from the bullet wound. When Blue gets to the hospital, Edwin is unconscious. A Ford Bronco pulls up at the emergency entrance, and Blue sees Jacquie “holding a boy, a teenager in regalia” (282). Blue ponders whether she should let them go in Edwin’s place. Harvey helps get Edwin inside. While Blue waits next to Jacquie, Blue looks at the “two younger boys and a woman who looks a little like Jacquie” and then looks away (283).

At the hospital, Opal worries about Orvil. She “knows this is the time, if there ever was one, to believe, to pray, to ask for help, even though she’d abandoned all hope for outside help […] back when she was eleven” (284). Opal decides to pray. As a doctor begins talking to her, Opal starts counting the swings of the double doors, relying on her superstition that even numbers are “good.” The doors stop swinging on the number eight, and Opal lets out a sigh of relief. She is ready to listen to the doctor.

The novel ends as it began, with Tony’s narrative. As Tony watches the shooting begin, a bullet hits his leg. Tony knows that he can stop the violence and starts to run in the direction of the shots. He manages, despite being hit by multiple bullets, to shoot Charles in the head. Tony “rolls onto his back […,] sinking” (287). In his semiconscious state, he recalls being in the kitchen when he was four years old and asking his grandmother over and over again, “What are we?” (288). The novel closes with Tony feeling that “somewhere in there, inside him, where he is, where he’ll always be, even now it is morning, and the birds, the birds are singing” (290).