A Good Kind of Trouble

Momma rubs coconut oil into Shayla’s scalp to detangle her hair, and Shayla wishes there was a way to detangle her day. Daddy comes in to inform them that a “Black woman was selling incense in front of a store” (314), and while the store owner stated the woman wasn’t causing trouble, someone called the police, who shot the woman. Momma asks if there’s a video, and Daddy doubts that will change anything. Shayla can’t sleep, so she goes to Hana’s room and informs her about Principal Trask’s dress code announcement. Hana is unsurprised and asks what she’s going to do about it. Shayla decides to keep wearing the armband but reflects in her eyeball journal that she still wants to avoid trouble.

Shayla struggles to put her armband on in the morning because her hands are itching so badly; she is anxious about violating the dress code. Hana and Shayla raise fists at one another as she leaves for school. In the car, she and Momma listen to a radio broadcast about another protest. At school, Shayla covers her armband with a sweater but later removes the sweater. Bernard tells her that “some stuff is okay to get in trouble for” (319), but her hands still itch.