40 pages • 1 hour read
Forged By Fire
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Chapters 10-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 10 Summary
Jordan is angry when he learns that Angel’s bed is broken. He tries to fix it but fails. Jordan is not as irritable as he used to be since he has a new job. Angel is sick with chicken pox and has to stay home from school. Jordan skips work and offers to watch her.
While still recovering, Angel wakes up to find Jordan sitting on her bed. She begs him not to touch her, but he claims he only wants to inspect how she’s healing. He touches her and says if she tells anyone, he will kill her cat.
Chapter 11 Summary
Gerald comes home from school and can tell something is wrong with Angel. That night, Gerald notices that Angel isn’t sleeping well. At dawn, he asks her if Jordan touched her. She tells him the truth and reveals that he threatened to kill her cat. Gerald assures Angel that he’s going to handle it and heads out of the apartment before Monique wakes up.
Gerald takes the city bus to school and sits on the curb, debating whether he should go to the police. His friend, Robbie, and his father, Mr. Washington, arrive and see Gerald sitting outside of the school. Mr. Washington senses something is wrong and takes Gerald to McDonalds. Gerald tells Mr. Washington about the abuse and Jordan’s behavior at home. After listening to Gerald, Mr. Washington takes Gerald to the police.
Chapter 12 Summary
Angel is home alone with Jordan, but they’re interrupted when Gerald returns with two police officers. Jordan is arrested. At first, Angel feels guilty. She asks if Jordan is “going to get in trouble because of [her]” (78), but Gerald reassures her that Jordan is not a good person.
When Monique comes home from work, she finds Gerald and Angel laughing. She’s very angry with Gerald and Angel for getting Jordan arrested. Gerald and Angel try to explain to her that Jordan has been abusive, but Monique does not believe them. She calls them both liars.
Chapters 10-12 Analysis
When Angel gets chicken pox in Chapter 10, it forces her to be home alone, allowing Jordan to have access to her without Gerald there to intervene or protect her. After Jordan sexually abuses Angel, he threatens her and says “if [she says] one word to anybody—[he’ll] kill that cat and cook it” (68). Jordan’s threat is another tactic he uses to ensure that Angel remains silent about the abuse. Still, Monique chooses to ignore Jordan’s abusive behavior. After Jordan threatens her, Angel is silent and “would not talk to” Gerald or anybody (69). She is unable to recognize the change in Angel’s behavior after Jordan sexually abuses her. Monique also does not notice that Gerald leaves the house early before her and is more concerned with “polishing her nails” than checking on Angel “to see if the child was feverish” (71).
In Chapter 11, Gerald tells Mr. Washington about Jordan’s behavior at home, which is a major shift in the novel. Mr. Washington is a foil for Jordan: He’s a loving father and the kind of man Aunt Queen would approve of because “she approved of black men in blue suits who had jobs in offices downtown” (74). Robbie and Mr. Washington are in a different class than Gerald and his family. The Washingtons are wealthier—which does not always mean that they are more responsible than poorer families—but because Gerald “[knows] him better than any father of his friends,” he sees him as a trustworthy adult to reach out to for help (73).
Gerald, Angel, and Monique each have different reactions to Jordan’s arrest in Chapter 12. Gerald is convinced life will get better because Jordan will be out of their lives. However, Angel is overwhelmed by guilt. She tells her brother: “Oh, Gerald, was I bad? Is Jordan going to get in trouble because of me? It’s all my fault” (78). Often, victims of abuse will blame themselves rather than the perpetrator of the violence. Gerald reassures her that Jordan was abusive and must be held responsible. In contrast to Gerald and Angel, Monique is very upset with her children and tells them: “you think it’s funny to send a man to jail for something he ain’t done?” (78).
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By Sharon M. Draper
