Small Great Things: Chapter 24, Kennedy Summary & Analysis

Kennedy is thrilled as she meets with Odette and Judge Thunder. Odette tries to hang onto Ruth's sterilization comment as motive for murder, but Judge Thunder agrees to throw out the murder charge and consider Kennedy's motion to acquit Ruth and throw out the case. She skips into the conference room with Howard and Ruth and shares the good news. She says that tomorrow, the defense will rest and hopefully, this will all be over by the weekend.

Ruth points out that she hasn't testified, but Kennedy says that she doesn't need to. Kennedy knows that Ruth wants to bring up race and discrimination. Their argument gets heated as Ruth points out that Kennedy has to put Ruth on the stand if Ruth insists, so Kennedy sends Howard out. She tells Ruth that they'll jeopardize their lead if she testifies, but Ruth admits that she wants to tell the truth: she did try to resuscitate Davis when he first stopped breathing. Kennedy suggests that Ruth keep this to herself, but Ruth insists that she wants to tell the jury that she's a good nurse. Kennedy knows they're going to lose.

Kennedy remembers one night when she and Ruth had been working in her kitchen, and Violet fell and ended up with a nasty head wound. Ruth calmly cared for Violet at Kennedy's house and then at the emergency room, where Violet got two stitches. After, Kennedy thanked Ruth and told her she was good at her job. Kennedy knows that this is all Ruth wants as she sits at home with a bottle of wine. Micah gets home and Kennedy tells him everything. She laments that Ruth is going to ruin this for her, but Micah suggests that Kennedy think about Ruth, not herself. He also suggests that maybe, it's more important to Ruth that she finally gets to speak at all.

On Friday morning, Kennedy meets Ruth and Edison behind the courthouse. Ruth is still insistent on testifying. Kennedy notices Wallace Mercy outside. She begins her questioning and asks Ruth about the Florence Nightingale pledge, which is the pledge that nurses take to care for patients and do no harm. Ruth explains what happened on the morning that Turk asked she be taken off Davis's case. She then explains what happened when Davis stopped breathing: she tried to get him to perk up, but stopped when she heard people coming. Ruth says she was caught between malpractice or violating an order.

Ruth then answers questions about the crash team's efforts, losing her nursing license, and working at McDonald's. Softly, Ruth says that she thought she was a respected member of her community, but in reality, she was just tolerated. She says that she's being blamed because of the color of her skin.

Odette's questioning seeks to show that Ruth lied several times about not touching Davis. She suggests that Ruth was more interested in saving her job than the baby. Odette also suggests that Ruth was happy when Davis died and purposefully let him die. She yells into Ruth's face and finally, Ruth snaps: she says that she thought Davis was better off dead than raised by Turk. Howard shouts his objection and Edison runs out of the room.

During recess, Kennedy drags Ruth to a conference room and asks if she's happy now. Ruth says she's angry and has been for years, because she spends every minute trying not to be "too black" to keep herself and Edison safe. She approaches Kennedy and asks if Kennedy has ever considered whether her good fortune is a direct result of the misfortune of her black clients. She accuses Kennedy of being a white savior, and then fires her as her lawyer. Ruth storms out and Kennedy thinks that this is how Ruth feels: judged and humiliated because of the color of her skin.

Back in the courtroom, Kennedy explains to the reader that it's time for her to raise the motion to acquit Ruth. Judge Thunder, however, looks murderous. He refuses to reconsider Odette's murder charge and says that closing arguments will take place Monday morning. Kennedy arrives home to find Ava making cookies with Violet. She ignores Ava's questions if she's okay, sits down with Violet, and starts eating cookie dough. She thinks that Violet is left-handed and asks Ava if the world is biased towards right-handed people. Ava sends Violet away and insists it's not a big deal, since lefties are supposed to be more creative.

Kennedy leaves Ava with Violet and takes the bus downtown. She stops at a CVS and looks at the black hair care products, thinking that she knows nothing about them. She walks past two homeless people, one black and one white, and notices that the white woman gets more change from passersby. Kennedy then wanders the streets in a black neighborhood, feeling unsettled that nobody looks like her or will make eye contact. She offers to help an old lady up the stairs, but the woman insists she doesn't speak English. A man shows Kennedy the hilt of his gun and she hurries away, feeling unsafe and like she now understands a little of how Ruth feels every day.

Kennedy heads for Micah's hospital and thinks about the history of racism in the U.S. She lets herself into Micah's office, marveling that she can let herself in, while a black person would be questioned. Kennedy muses that she's been so caught up in winning her first murder trial, she's lost sight of what Ruth wanted all along: to point out that what happened to her was racially motivated. Kennedy thinks that more courageous lawyers wouldn't be scared to talk about race and might actually fix the system. Micah finally arrives and Kennedy says she feels like she's gotten good at metaphorically catching babies that have been thrown out of windows, but she's never questioned why someone is throwing babies to begin with.