There Are No Children Here: Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis

Nine-year-old Pharoah, his twelve-year-old brother Lafeyette, and their friends are climbing through dirt and vegetation to reach the railroad tracks near their housing complex. The railroad connects downtown Chicago to the suburbs and, when the group reaches the tracks, Pharoah stops to admire the vision of downtown Chicago in the distance. The glow of the buildings contrasts starkly with his own home, a seven-story building that looks permanently dirty and run-down. Pharoah soon finds himself admiring a butterfly’s elegant movements, but Lafeyette pushes him roughly to play, which makes Lafeyette laugh but annoys Pharoah.

The two brothers and their six friends include “Porkchop,” Pharoah’s cousin and closest friend, and James Howard, a close friend of Lafeyette who has grown up with him and lives in the same building. With crowbars, the boys dig holes in the dirt around the railroad tracks in the hope of finding snakes. A friend of theirs (who was later killed after playing with a gun that he thought was unloaded) had recently showed them a snake he had found. Inspired by their friend, the boys want to dig a snake up in this wild, deserted area, and to keep it as a pet. Their search is fruitless, although they do spot a big rat. Bored by the search, Pharoah and Porkchop play in a pile of old tires.

When the boys hear a train approaching, they frantically hide in the dark corners of a boxcar and tell each other to keep quiet. The boys are scared of the passengers heading to the suburbs because they have heard rumors that passengers would shoot them for trespassing on the tracks. Passengers in the train are afraid of the neighborhood children, since they have heard rumors that the neighborhood children might shoot at the train windows. Both the neighborhood boys and the train’s passengers thus hide from each other, terrified of this invisible, unknown enemy.

After the train passes, the boys laugh among themselves. Lost in thought, Pharoah appreciates the smells and sounds of this peaceful place, which offer him a much-needed respite from the chaos and violence he is accustomed to in the neighborhood. Although all the boys want to linger, they decide to go home when the sun sets, since staying longer could be dangerous. On their way back, Lafeyette takes Pharoah’s hand to cross the street, and the two of them walk home.