How It Went Down

The brief Prologue outlines the “known facts” surrounding the death of Tariq Johnson, a sixteen-year-old male who was shot twice by Jack Franklin and died from his wounds. Franklin fled the scene but was apprehended later with a nine-millimeter handgun, the same type of gun used to shoot and kill Johnson. The gun had recently been fired.

The chapter begins with Jennica’s point-of-view. Jennica imagines Tariq Johnson’s death unfolding like a movie with subtitles. She describes Tariq’s shooting in terms of colors: black, white, and red. Red symbolizes the blood spilled from the gunshots. Black symbolizes Tariq’s hair and skin, while white comes from the milk that Tariq was holding when he was shot. In Jennica’s words, “the spilled milk seemed wronger than the blood, somehow. I keep thinking that” (3).The next point-of-view is that of Brian Trellis. He mentions how the shooting “was over in a minute” (4). He saw Tariq go down and noted how the shooter looked at him. He tasted blood on his lip and wanted to throw up. He then knelt by Tariq as the dying boy looked up at him.

The chapter then shifts to Noodle’s point-of-view.