Autobiography of My Dead Brother Chapter 12 Summary

  • C.J.'s on the phone with Jesse. He called to let Jesse know about Rise's takeover of the neighborhood.
  • Jesse tells C.J. that he knew about it, but that it doesn't have anything to do with them. C.J. counters by pointing out that it definitely does have something to do with them so long as they're all still Counts.
  • C.J. tells Jesse he'd rat everyone out for a lighter sentence if it came down to that, but Jesse says he hasn't done anything.
  • In other neighborhood-violence related news, C.J. heard that the kid who's been carrying a gun is none other than Little Man.
  • Jesse wonders how C.J. has all this information. C.J. explains that he heard it from Calvin, who heard it from Rise. Jesse wonders why Rise is spreading this around when he explicitly told Jesse not to say anything…
  • It's dinnertime. Jesse's dad is still convalescing from the hurt foot, so his mom made crab cakes, his favorite.
  • Jesse's dad starts in on him for being a vegetarian. It's clearly a conversation that father and son have had before.
  • Jesse's still preoccupied with his thoughts about Rise. He's really worried about all this bad stuff Rise is getting into—Jesse hates drugs.
  • He reflects back to when people in his neighborhood used crack. Now heroin is much more popular. Heroin scares Jesse (and rightly so, we might add).
  • Jesse heads off to do some more drawing. He's decided to put himself in Rise's autobiography as his favorite character, Spodi Roti.
  • Jesse thinks about how he barely knows Rise anymore. He remembers a time when they were sitting on the stoop with Drew, an older guy. Rise got aggressive, and Drew pulled a straight razor.
  • Jesse had no idea why Rise was antagonizing Drew, who was just some dude. Reflecting back on it, Jesse realizes he hasn't known Rise very well for a while.