Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Chapter 22 Summary

Downhill (1942)

  • Henry is super nervous as he makes his way back home in the dark. As he's passing by the Japanese grocery store, he sees someone painting "Go Home Japs!" on the outside. Ugh—so terrible.
  • It takes him a moment for him to realize that it's the mean boys in his class… and that they've spotted him, too. Gulp.
  • They start yelling racist stuff at Henry and chasing him down the street. Henry needs to protect Keiko's photo albums, so he runs as fast as he can and tries to get away.
  • He gets nabbed by a police officer instead of the bullies, who looks through the photo albums and immediately gets suspicious about Henry even though he says that they're not his photos—he's just holding them for a friend.
  • The officer is annoyed but eventually tells Henry to go on home and to not be out after dark again. Henry makes it back safe and sound, sneaks into his bedroom, and hides the albums underneath the bottom of his dresser.