“I hesitated before I stood up to take my place in the procession of mourners at the front of the church, mostly because I wanted to remember Emako the way she was.”

Monterey Hamilton hesitates before approaching the casket of her best friend, Emako Blue. Though Monterey and Emako have only been friends for a few months, they built a strong friendship that had the potential to last throughout their lives. Gang-related gun violence cuts Emako's life short, and Monterey witnesses Emako’s death. Her hesitation here indicates her unwillingness to accept what has happened to her best friend, and her desire to remember Emako as the talented and vibrant individual she was, rather than the corpse lying in the casket in front of her.

“She had a voice that could do tricks, go high, low, and anywhere in between: a voice that’s a gift from God. She was Jill Scott and Minnie Riperton, Lauryn Hill and India Arie.”

Monterey describes meeting Emako for the first time at choir auditions. She describes the singular talent that Emako had by describing the range of her voice and comparing her to other famous Black women artists. Monterey also says that Emako’s talent is a gift from God, giving her voice and her being an almost otherworldly quality. Her divine talent solidifies as Emako’s life is cut short before she is able to reach her full potential.

“I mean you just seem like you live on a nice little street with trees and all that, where nuthin’ real bad ever happens and you probably got a collection of Barbie dolls, PlayStation One and Two, your own DVD player, and a little pink bedroom.”

Emako describes what she assumes Monterey’s life is like. Monterey is from a wealthier area of Los Angeles, and Emako assumes that Monterey must therefore be from privilege.