Another Brooklyn

August’s father lets her and her brother out of the apartment after the incident with the broken window. At first, he tells them they’re only allowed to go as far as the gate in front of their building, then to the corner, then to the bodega, and finally as far as they want. Walking through the streets, August searches for her mother, wondering what she looks like now and if she still cries Clyde’s name in the night. August is 11 now and she continues to keep track of Sylvia, Angela, and Gigi, watching them from afar at school and feeling like she has so much in common with them despite the fact that they haven’t officially met yet.

Finally, Sylvia asks August one day why she always stares at her, Angela, and Gigi. Moreover, Sylvia asks what August sees in them, clarifying that she’s not trying to be mean. In response, August says that she sees “everything” when she looks at them. This prompts Sylvia to ask if August is the girl without a mother, but August lies and says no. Disregarding August’s answer, Sylvia reaches out and takes her hand, saying, “You belong to us now.” Several years later, August asks Sylvia what she saw in her that day. Sylvia replies that August seemed lost and beautiful, and Angela adds that she also looked “hungry.” When the girls first come together, then, they all recognize these qualities in each other, each girl feeling lost, beautiful, and hungry.

Sylvia’s family moved to Brooklyn from Martinique one year before August arrived in the city. Sylvia’s parents still speak French to her, but she claims to have forgotten the language, focusing primarily on developing her friendships with Angela and Gigi while Sylvia’s father quotes philosophy to her in her first language. Gigi also moved to Brooklyn the year before August, but she came from South Carolina. Gigi’s mother, Gigi explains, wanted to spend her 21st birthday in New York City. Gigi then urges August not to calculate how old her mother is, joking that the math will only add up to teen pregnancy. Such a thing, August and her friends believe, will never happen to them. 

Unlike the others, Angela remains quiet about her family and home life. She also sometimes acts emotionally removed, but when August and her friends ask what’s wrong, Angela insists that she’s fine and she tells them to leave her alone. Still, August notices how frequently Angela’s hands clench when these dark moods overcome her. When this happens, the girls let Angela brood, and she tells them that she doesn’t have a past life—the only thing that matters is her current life and her friendship with them.