Little Brother Chapter 16 Summary

  • Marcus tells both his parents what happened to him. His dad's pretty upset. He goes for a walk and comes back with a plan. They'll go see Darryl's father, then Barbara Stratford.
  • Marcus, Drew, and Lillian drive to Darryl's dad's house. He used to be a Navy radio operator and ran his house like a tight ship. Now he and his house are both a mess.
  • Marcus tells Ron Glover (Darryl's dad) that Darryl's alive and a prisoner on Treasure Island (16.59). Drew asks if Ron will come with them to Barbara's house; she's a journalist and they want her to know the story.
  • Ron cleans up and puts on his military dress uniform (it's one of the only clean things he has in the house). Now they all drive to Barbara's home in Mountain View.
  • It's midnight, but a real journalist will always wake up for a good story.
  • They all drink some coffee (even Marcus) and he tells her the story. It's the fourth time and it's still hard to get started. Ron then talks about what's happened to him.
  • Barbara goes and gets everyone (except Marcus) some Irish whiskey. It's one of those nights. She tells Marcus she believes him and they go to her home office to scan Zeb's note.
  • Away from his parents, Marcus tells Barbara he's also M1k3y on Xnet. She tells him to come by her office and tell the receptionist that he's "Mr. Brown" (16.115). Then they'll take the special precautions to keep his visit secret.
  • Marcus manages to zombie his way through the school day, and then heads to the Bay Guardian for his appointment with Barbara. Turning onto 24th Street, another pair of feet fall in step with his.
  • It's Ange; she's back. Marcus tells her what he's doing and she says she'll come with him.
  • At Barbara's office, Marcus says his name is Mr. Green. Whoops. There goes Marcus's career as a super spy—remember your alias. It's the first rule.
  • Coffee and cookies at the ready, Ange and Marcus go back with Barbara to a boardroom. Barbara explains that even though she wants to learn all she can about the Xnet, she'd rather tell the story about Darryl as one that talks about secret prisons, not the Xnet.
  • Marcus knows that when Darryl's story goes public, the DHS will figure out that Marcus has gone public. And so the interview begins.