Previous
Chapter 28
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
On Monday morning, Bri knocks and lets herself into Jay's room. She sniffs but doesn't smell crack. Jay calls Bri over, comments that Bri needs new braids, and makes sure that Bri has eaten. Bri doesn't know how to tell Jay that she's afraid and needs Jay to feel better, but Jay seems to read Bri's mind. She tells Bri that she'll be okay and sits up. Jay invites Bri to come with her to visit Aunt Pooh tomorrow and says that she hasn't heard from Dr. Cook. Bri feels like she's five as she asks if Jay will actually be okay. Jay promises. As Bri leaves for the bus, Jay gets up.
It's a major step in maturity for Bri to work up the courage to ask Jay if she's going to be okay. Though Bri doesn't say everything on her mind or admit she's afraid in so many words, she still makes it clear to Jay that she needs her to be there for her. After the interview with DJ Hype, Bri is beginning to understand that she needs people like Jay to be supportive, as they help her feel secure and not act out.
Themes
Bri listens to a J. Cole song and feels as though a song has never spoken to her like this before. She gets a call from Supreme and picks up. He tells her he has something big: record executives want to meet her. Bri almost drops her phone. He says they want to see her this afternoon and see her record a song, which will land her a contract. Bri agrees. As soon as she gets on the bus, she flips through her notebook, trying to decide what to record. Curtis startles her when he gets on the bus. They shyly talk about their kiss.
That Bri so quickly agrees to go along with Supreme's plan shows that she still believes that this is her only chance, even if she already has evidence that Supreme isn't the right person to be managing her career. With this, Bri shows that she hasn't yet learned to think of fame as something she can control.
Themes
Bri mentions her interview with DJ Hype and says that she's not invisible anymore. Curtis is confused and says that she wasn't invisible before all of this—she just seemed too caught up in Malik and Sonny to hang out with anyone else. Bri admits that she thought no one else wanted to hang out with her. Curtis asks Bri to go out with him for Valentine's Day tomorrow. She takes offense to his language and says that she's seeing Pooh. As the bus stops at Sonny and Malik's houses, Curtis stands on the seat and loudly asks Bri to go on a date with him. Blushing, Bri says yes.
Being asked out by Curtis in such a public way begins to change the way that other students perceive Bri at school—and similarly, the way that Bri thinks she's perceived by her peers. Curtis's admission that Bri just seemed too involved with her friends suggests that the way Bri sees herself isn't necessarily how others see her. She'll need to let people in to come to a more accurate understanding of how she looks to others.
Themes
When the bus gets to school, Curtis gets off ahead of Bri and Bri puts in headphones so she can ignore Sonny. On the sidewalk, Shana stops Bri and asks her to attend the coalition's meeting with Dr. Cook after school today. Dr. Cook apparently saw Bri's music video, and Shana thanks Bri for making it. She tells Bri they have a petition to get the armed officers removed. Bri says she already has plans, but signs the petition. As Bri walks away, Shana says that DJ Hype was a jerk to her, and that she and Malik are there for Bri. Malik stares at his phone through all of this, and Bri thinks it still hurts that she's losing him.
Bri's desire to make up with Malik shows that even as she's beginning to embrace some of these changes, she still wants the safety and the comfort of her longtime relationships with her best friends. Losing Malik is quickly becoming one of Bri's many painful experiences, and Shana's pledge of support shows Bri that simply gaining more allies doesn't make losing Malik hurt less.
Themes
Get the entire On the Come Up LitChart as a printable PDF.
