Hell of a Book

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes depictions of dead bodies and references to anti-Black police violence.

Now Soot is “The Unseen” and it feels good. Soot wishes he could give his father the gift of being unseen, but it is too late. He tries not to think about his father’s death. What Soot likes the most about it is that he doesn’t have to see his dark skin. He closes his eyes and imagines himself, small, vibrant, and happy. He is unafraid, no longer the boy who gets picked on or watches new reports about crime. He doesn’t have to think about how many Black men end up in prison. Being The Unseen, Soot no longer has to be self-conscious. Instead, he is free. But then he reappears and sees that his father really is dead.

The narrator and Kelly are still on their date in San Francisco. They walk through a park while Renny drives the limousine along nearby. When Kelly asks if the narrator is defined by his job, the question brings up painful memories of his dead mother. He hallucinates her in a hospital gown, and rushes to a bar nearby to drink away the vision.