Money Hungry

Raspberry tries to convince her friends Zora, Mai, and Ja’nae to join in on her new plan to clean houses. Used to Raspberry’s money-making plans, the girls ignore her and accuse her of being too “money hungry.” Raspberry agrees but asserts that she is hungry for money because she refuses to live on the streets ever again. When she does reveal her plan, her friends laugh at her idea.

Raspberry tries and fails to keep the conversation on the topic of her new business plan, and the conversation turns toward the other girls’ families. Mai refuses to clean other people’s houses because her parents already expect her to do a lot of work for their family food truck. She does a stereotypical imitation of her Korean father and laments that she wishes her mom had married a Black man, like Zora’s dad. Ja’nae says that Mai should just be thankful she has a dad, and Raspberry reveals that not only does Ja’nae not know her father but she was abandoned by her mother. Raspberry explains that Ja’nae now lives with her grandparents and sometimes receives letters from her mother, now in California, whom her grandmother calls “That Triflin’ Heifer” (30).

Raspberry tries and again does not convince her friends to clean houses with her. Apart from their lack of interest, their biggest reservation is that anyone who works with Raspberry tends not to make much money out of the deal. Zora throws down the “three lousy bucks” she made from the candy-selling operation (32). Raspberry relents for the time being as Ja’nae says she has to go meet up with Mai’s brother, Ming, whom Ja’nae is interviewing for a class project.

An argument starts between Mai and Ja’nae, who suggests that Mai should be proud of being biracial. Mai and Ming have a Black mother and a Korean father but emphasize different parts of their identities. Mai identifies as Black, while Ming identifies as biracial. Mai’s racial identity is a sore subject for her, and she tells Ja’nae to go “write about her own screwed up family” (35). The girls’ argument is interrupted by Ms. Mitchell, Zora’s mother, who visits Dr. Mitchell and Zora’s home multiple times a week despite their divorce. Ms. Mitchell disapproves of the girls’ silly behavior, and Raspberry throws a cheese ball at her hair as she exits the room.

Chapter 8 opens with a letter from Mr. Jackson to Raspberry’s mother. In the letter, Mr. Jackson states that Raspberry is not allowed to sell items at school anymore and that if she is found to be selling again, she will be suspended. On the ride to school, Momma reiterates Mr. Jackson’s warning, and Raspberry tells her about her new plan for making money by cleaning homes. Momma says she will not let Raspberry go into strangers’ homes, and Raspberry lies saying that she plans to clean the homes of friends and neighbors.

Raspberry is frustrated when Momma stops to give Sato and a few other boys a ride to school. Sato and Momma have an easy rapport, and he and the boys crack jokes about the state of Momma’s car, which has ripped seats and a broken rearview mirror. Sato asks whether Momma knows that Raspberry is in love, and the two joke about Raspberry’s love for money: “Washington, Lincoln…” (41). As the kids enter school, Sato makes one more joke about Momma’s car, and Raspberry, gripping her money inside her pocket, retorts that one day she’ll have enough money to buy a Lexus.