Money Hungry

Raspberry blames Ja’nae for the loss of her money, and when she runs into Ja’nae and Ming outside of school, she demands that Ja’nae give her the money she made at Ms. Baker’s boardinghouse. When Raspberry sees that Ming is wearing the leather jacket that she assumes Ja’nae bought for him, she tells Ja’nae to either pay her what she owes or pawn Ming’s jacket. Ja’nae explains that she didn’t buy the jacket for Ming; it belonged to her cousin who died of an asthma attack. Unmoved, Raspberry demands her money again as Ja’nae and Ming walk away. Just as Raspberry thinks that they’ve gone, Ja’nae runs back to her and throws some cash at her. She tells Raspberry that the money was for her mother, not Ming, and calls Raspberry a “cheap greedy thing” (125). Raspberry at once gathers the money and counts $35, ignoring that Ja’nae is upset.

When Raspberry sees Mai later on, Mai echoes Ja’nae’s comment that Raspberry is “just so greedy” (126). While Raspberry maintains that she needs the money because “what’s mine is mine” (126), her underlying anxieties are revealed when Sato walks by and suggests there are rumors that Raspberry and