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Chapter 19
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in On the Come Up, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Identity and Individuality
Racism and Prejudice
Trauma, Poverty, and Childhood
Control, Image, and Fame
Summary
Analysis
The next morning, Bri feels like she has an "Instagram hangover," as she regrets what she said and knows that her viewers probably shared her livestream. She hopes that Jay won't see it. Jay is so sad and preoccupied that she decides they won't go to church. While Jay stays in her room, Bri and Trey watch Netflix. Trey assures Bri that Jay is fine and then asks about her livestream. Bri is shocked that Trey has an Instagram account, but teases him when he says that Kayla made him get one. He points out that the video will look bad to future employers, but Bri admits she's more concerned about Jay. He encourages her to leave people like Emily Taylor alone and says he's not going to tell Jay, but that she will find out.
Again, because Bri trusts Trey to be there for her and understand where she's coming from, Trey is in a unique position to give her advice when none of the other adults in Bri's life can. By doing this, he can help Bri understand the greater issues with her livestream and in doing so, come up with better strategies in the future for dealing with racist aggravations like Emily Taylor's petition.
Themes
The doorbell rings. Trey ignores Bri and lets Sonny and Malik in. They all watch TV for a minute and then Trey asks if Bri is going to ignore her friends. When she says she is, he makes her sit up and talk to Malik and Sonny. They invite her to play video games, but Bri ignores them until Trey farts near her face. She agrees to go, but she's silent as they walk, and she focuses on her chain.
Trey also has the ability to point out to Bri that she's being immature by continuing to ignore her friends like this. Resorting to something as childish as farting at her shows that Trey knows exactly how to get the right reaction out of Bri, and though he's a mentor, he's not stuffy.
Themes
Malik compliments Bri on her new Timbs. She refuses to say where or how she got them, which makes Sonny and Malik apologize for not standing up for her and for things being so different. Malik points out that Bri is different now too—especially her rap persona. They both saw her Instagram stream and though Sonny gets it, he and Malik agree that it was a lot. Malik starts to say that Bri is different at school, but Bri interrupts and says that they're the ones who refuse to hang out with her. Sonny insists they researched Rapid alone because they didn't want to give Bri more to worry about, but Bri asks if this is actually about them not wanting to be associated with her. She tells the reader that she's been insecure about this for a long time.
In this moment, Bri finally admits that she's afraid and insecure—something that, because of her strong relationships with Sonny and Malik, will help them all learn to deal with these changes and accept each other as they are. That she's ready to take this step and reach out suggests that she's feeling even more unmoored and out of control when it comes to her song and her fame. She desperately desires something familiar and trustworthy, like time with her friends that love her.
Themes
Sonny is incredulous and lists all the things they've been through together, including a debate about Black Panther. They briefly argue about it before performing their handshake and heading for Malik's house to play Mario Kart. Sonny mentions that the superintendent is going to meet with parents on Friday. Bri looks away from the TV for a second and loses, which makes Malik scream with laughter. Sonny says that the school is hiring cops to work as security and they want student and parent input. Bri sighs that it probably won't do much.
Hiring real police officers as security would make Midtown feel much more like a prison—which is what Jay says Garden Heights is like. In her understanding, this means that Midtown will be even less able to help Bri and other students of color succeed. Bri's sense that speaking out won't fix things shows how defeated she feels about all of this, something that's certainly affected by the negative attention she's gotten for her song.
Themes
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As Sonny rifles through Malik's food, Malik asks Bri if she'd be willing to release the video on her terms. He suggests that they use Bri's song, which talks about what Long and Tate did, to show people what happened in music video form. Bri starts to get excited, not least because Malik is saying that he gets her song. He says that after he saw how people at school reacted to it, he understands that she was just speaking up and it's not her fault if people don't get it.
Bri's willingness to allow Malik to do this with the video and her song shows that what she really wanted was to be seen and heard by her friends. This will be a moment that shows Bri that her relationships are the most important things in her life, and she should do whatever she can to not lose sight of them.
Themes
